Wikipedia has discovered that up to 250 user accounts may have been paid to write favorable articles about people or companies.
More than 500 million people worldwide use Wikipedia to answer their questions. It’s more important than ever that the information is accurate and impartial, and Wikipedia editors face a battle against ‘sockpuppets’ – people using online identities to deceive readers. Doing this is very dangerous, as if you are found out it can result in a lot of embarrassing headlines and bad press, but it seems that some ‘sockpuppetry’ has gone unnoticed until now.
Wikipedia has discovered that some user accounts have been paid to promote people or products on the site. This has shocked many editors, and Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director Sue Gardner has written a blog post explaining Wikipedia’s position on paying for articles.
Being deceptive in your editing by using sockpuppets or misrepresenting your affiliation with a company is against Wikipedia policy and is prohibited by our Terms of Use. We urge companies to conduct themselves ethically, to be transparent about what they’re doing on Wikipedia, and to adhere to all site policies and practices.
Sue Gardner goes on to explain that the Wikimedia foundation is looking at its options for dealing with editors who break the terms of service or people offering to write favorable Wikipedia articles for money. The vast majority of Wikipedia articles are trustworthy, but the open nature of the site means it has to stay vigilant where impartiality is concerned.
[Source: Wikipedia]
